


legit furious

by lesbiancristina



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: M/M, dex aggressively cares about and for derek nurse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-11
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:08:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25210633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesbiancristina/pseuds/lesbiancristina
Summary: Nursey tries to ask about it once, and Dex grunts and turns red and says "If you're not going to do it yourself then someone has to take- to look out for you." Nursey has no idea how to reply to that, so he doesn’t.He tells his Ma, though- that Dex is like, meticulous about him and his meds and his sleep and his food so she doesn't have to worry about him not having her when he's injured because Dex's got him covered. It would be annoying, Ma, if it wasn’t, like, weirdly  endearing.
Relationships: Derek "Nursey" Nurse/William "Dex" Poindexter
Comments: 11
Kudos: 203





	legit furious

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote most of this at 3am last night when i stumbled across bitty's tweet about dex being mad at nursey for not taking care of himself. is the tweet in relation to nursey's broken arm? i genuinely don't know. did i get immediately emotional about william poindexter going out of his way to make nursey take care of himself? you betcha. 
> 
> and now this exists. so. 
> 
> i don't have a beta so any and all mistakes are my own.

Nursey doesn’t miss Dex; the frustrated scowl etched on his face as he works, the steady click of his keyboard while he codes, his quiet grumbling when Nursey doesn’t use the bin Dex bought specifically so Nursey wouldn’t fling his rubbish on the floor in the hopes Dex would pick up after him -  _ I’m not your fucking maid, Nurse _ \- the shock of ginger hair plastered to Dex’s freckled face in the mornings, the way he smiles when he gets in a good chirp and isn’t able to hide that he’s like, proud of himself for the words coming out of his dumb mouth.

He doesn’t miss Dex, is the point. And he’s not moping  _ Bitty _ , it’s just that classes are giving him a constant headache, and things in the Haus feel like they’re balancing on a knife’s edge and he isn’t sure which way things are going to fall and he hasn’t spoken to Dex in three days which means things are quieter. 

He’s never been good with the quiet, too much space for his thoughts to spiral with nothing there to pull them back. 

He spends three days stewing in the quiet after Dex ups and leaves, taking everything he owns with him and leaving empty spaces in their room that shouldn’t be so stark except Nursey knows that Dex’s toolbox used to bruise Nursey’s shins when he swung himself into the chair at the desk thoughtlessly, and Dex’s textbooks used to be stacked  _ horizontally  _ on their bookshelves because Dex was fucking dumb and the soft navy blanket Dex’s grams crocheted for him used to lie across the bottom bunk. 

On the morning of the fourth day, after Nursey has already ignored his first two alarms, there’s a knock at the door and then Dex is there, hair swept back off his forehead and scowling. He snaps  _ get up and get dressed Nurse _ and Nursey only briefly considers telling him to fuck off, because he’s a fucking  _ gentleman  _ and an  _ adult  _ and Dex isn’t getting a rise out of him before coffee. 

Nursey sits up in time to watch Dex set a bottle of water, a steaming mug of creamy coffee and two of the pain pills he’s been neglecting down on the desk, but before Nursey can put voice to the questions on the tip of his tongue Dex is gone. Nursey takes his meds with the water and settles back into the bottom bunk, fingers wrapped around his mug and head buzzing confusedly. 

Dex seems to have taken it upon himself to look out for Nursey, but in the most aggressive, put out way; Dex wakes Nursey in the mornings, Dex shoves water and his meds into sleep clumsy hands, Dex tosses a blanket at his face because _I can hear you shivering from here_ , Dex walks in still, easy silence with Nursey to Faber, Dex sends him pointed texts about remembering to eat and _I left you soup in the fridge you just have to heat it up,_ and _the bread on the counter is fresh and it's that_ _whole-wheat stuff you like_ and _I'll be back after my 5pm try not to fall down and break anything else._

Dex calls him one afternoon and asks  _ cheerios or shreddies _ and Nursey says  _ fruit loops _ ? and Dex hangs up but there's a new box of Nursey’s favourite cereal in the cupboard the next time he ventures downstairs so Nursey doesn't know what to make of it, so he pours himself cereal and goes to talk to Chowder. 

It becomes the new normal, having Dex moving in and out of his space and checking on him, offering him food and his meds and telling him to go the fuck to sleep already and offering to help him tie a plastic bag around his cast so Nursey can shower; Dex never lingers, everything he does is with a quiet efficiency, he never makes a fuss about it and they don't talk about it. 

Nursey tries to ask about it once, and Dex grunts and turns red and says  _ if you're not going to do it yourself then someone has to take- to look out for you _ . Nursey has no idea how to reply to that, so he doesn’t.

He tells his ma, though- that Dex is like, meticulous about him and his meds and his sleep and his food so she doesn't have to worry about him not having her when he's injured because Dex's got him covered. _ It would be annoying, Ma, if it wasn’t, like, weirdly endearing _ . 

She's skeptical because _ isn't that the same Dex who moved out not too long ago? _ and they haven't talked about that either but now that they have their own separate spaces in the Haus something has eased between them and even though their new normal feels fragile, like a crack that will split wide open if Nursey presses too hard. He tells her  _ yes it's that Dex but they're okay, probably _ , unable to put into words this thin, tenuous thread they’ve woven together over the past few weeks. 

She despairs a little at him because  _ baby surely your mom and I taught you to talk about these things _ and he doesn’t tell her that you can’t just talk to Dex, it’s like hockey; Dex requires strategising and forethought and skill and dexterity or a swift check into the boards, but he promises that he will talk to Dex just as soon as he can get him in the same room for more than a fleeting moment.

It doesn’t come. 

On a particularly miserable day, just a week or so before he's supposed to get his cast finally,  _ finally  _ removed, Nursey is on the horrible green couch and missing practice yet again because he can skate but he can’t run plays or do drills or even speed skate and he  _ hates  _ it, he's ready to be back on the ice, to be with his team, to be back on his line. 

He's ready to be done with casts and meds and the anxiety that bites at him at thought of his inevitable hospital trip. Dex's special brand of mother henning is nice and he doesn’t really want that to end, what if it  _ ends _ ? Dex gruffly asking him what he needs has become his new favourite thing, because it means he can chirp Dex forever about how he  _ does care  _ Nursey just-

Well he's feeling shitty, is all. So when Chowder and Dex roll in from practice Nursey seriously debates hiding himself alone in his room simply because it's the exact opposite of what he wants to do, so of course it's what he  _ should  _ do.

Except Chowder sees him, and because Chowder has magic goalie powers (and also because he's the best friend and he knows Nursey) he sees right through his attempt to drag himself up from the sofa and gently but firmly steers him right back to where he was. 

Dex hovers around the doorway, watching them with that stern frown, like he can't work out what's wrong or how to fix it and he's not happy about it, and Nursey lets Chowder arrange him on the sofa so Nursey's got an armrest to rest his cast on and Chowder is tucked up next to him and it's nice but Dex is still hovering and it's disrupting Nursey's already nebulous grasp on his emotions.

Chowder rolls his eyes and gives Nursey’s shoulder a squeeze and tells Dex to stop doing whatever it is he's doing and  _ get in on this frog cuddle pile _ because  _ we're going to watch Howl's Moving Castle and you’re going to like it. _ Dex does what he's told with little to no fuss and Nursey is baffled by it, because Dex does very little without a fight, but also super grateful because he doesn't want to have to explain where his head's at right now.

Dex cranes his head back to peer over Chowder and ask if Nursey needs anything before the movie starts and Nursey just shrugs because this right here? This is good. 

Dex looks unsure and a little like he might protest, but Nursey reaches across and socks him in the arm with his good hand and Dex grumbles about it but shuts up so they can enjoy the movie.

Chowder falls asleep between them, so when the movie ends Dex is the one who rouses him carefully and sends him off to bed, and Nursey is quick to reassure him, because Chowder looks like he wants to say something about not leaving Nursey right now, but  _ I’m good, C really. _

Dex asks if he is really good, but waits until Chowder's out of earshot. Yeah, he's fine, he's always fine. Dex clearly doesn't believe him because he bridges the space between them, and they’re alone and while that’s not unusual they’re never this close, close enough to count the smattering of freckles across Dex’s nose and cheeks. Nursey doesn’t breathe for a long moment, steadying himself.

Dex’s shoulders hunch, and he turns his face away, unable to meet Nursey’s eyes. Dex says  _ I worry about you, Nursey _ . Nursey exhales heavily. Blinks. Struggles to find words. _ I worry about how little you think about your own well being _ . Dex runs a hand through his hair, and it sticks up at the back. It’s adorable. Nursey focuses on that, rather than the way his heart tries to clutch to Dex’s words.  _ It’s like you don’t give a shit about yourself, Nurse. _

Nursey tries to laugh it off, because what is he  _ supposed  _ to do? Tell an overly earnest looking Will Poindexter that he's sad and anxious? That he’s been missing hockey and missing his moms and confused as fuck about Dex taking care of him in his Dex-y way while still keeping a cool distance and not really actually talking to him?

Of course that's exactly what he does, because Nursey has no sense of self preservation. 

Will's face is inscrutable, which is stupid and  _ unfair  _ because Will wears his emotions clearly on his face literally all the time, has never tried to hide his feelings from anyone, especially not Nursey, and he picks  _ now  _ to discover his poker face?

Dex was worried about him. Dex wanted to check in on him, but not bother him. Dex didn't think Nursey would want him hanging around too much after everything, but he wanted to know Nursey was okay and _Bitty said you weren't really looking after yourself, Nurse, so I did like. Little things that I thought_ _might help without like, getting in your way or annoying you or whatever._

Nursey's thrown for a loop because, yeah okay, he  _ guesses _ , but also since when does Dex even care enough to do any of this for Nursey?

Dex looks embarrassed now, that poker face melting away to ruddy cheeks and downturned lips. He scrubs a hand over the back of his neck and he still won't look at Nursey and his face is twisting up like it does when he's feeling defensive and Nursey's too drained to deal with a fight right now. He tells Dex so.

Dex doesn't want to fight either,  _ I’m bad at this, Nursey,  _ like Nursey didn't already know that. 

More words than Dex has ever strung together before come pouring out, about how he knows that last fight was big and explosive and probably stupid like so many others before it, and apparently the space has made him  _ miss  _ Nursey. Before they shared a room they were friends, weren't they? And things were good and sharing a living space was the worst idea ever, but just because they couldn't live in the same box room didn't mean they couldn't be friends again, right? Dex wants to be friends again. 

Nursey, shocked and thrilled in equal measure says  _ sure.  _ says _ sounds good, Poindexter.  _ He manifests in himself the very aura of cool and collected and Dex rolls his eyes but he's smiling, what the fuck, small but genuine. It suits him, not that Nursey would ever tell him that. Maybe he can admit that _ it was nice of you to look out for him these past three weeks or so _ , but that's as far as he's willing to go.

Dex looks fondly exasperated with him, but he says  _ someone's got to take care of you, Nurse.  _ Dex looks like he's already decided that person is going to be him.

**Author's Note:**

> nursey hasn't figured out dex has a crush and dex certainly isn't going to be the one to tell him, and anyway aggressively making sure your d-man is eating right and taking his meds and shit is like, normal bro stuff, probably.
> 
> I'm @marybolkonskys on tumblr if you want to come talk to me!


End file.
